Tuesday, October 06, 2009

I can see clearly now. . .

Well, not really.

But yesterday I tried out the new contact lens for my left eye. Which is the first time I've had any contact in that eye (other than quick fittings at the optometrist's office) since last October. Which means this is the first time I've been able to see clearly out of that eye.

Yes, it hurts a bit, as my eye is adjusting to this new lens, as a very sensitive cornea (with some still-healing scar tissue) gets used to this thing sitting on top of it. And, I think, we'll still need to make some adjustments, because it's not quite as clear as it ought to be.

But still. I put it in yesterday morning, and then drove Clara to preschool. I didn't notice much at first, other than excruciating pain, which slowly gave way to plain ordinary pain. But when I turned the car around and picked up some speed heading out the driveway. . .the mystics talk about creation becoming suddenly infused with light, with magic, with a sharper clarity, of seeing the world take on a new posture. It was like that. I was seeing in 3-D for the first time in over 11 months. I'd just gotten used to a flat world. All of a sudden that world was moving toward me. Everything from the way tiny pebbles sat on the road to the way trees waved in the forest was different, was sharper, was moving. The world took on a fluidity I'd never seen before. It was amazing. All the way to Clara's school I marveled at the way trucks drove past, the way clouds scooted overhead, the way birds disappeared into the trees. I don't know how to describe it, except to say it was a magical world, this 3-D world.

Maybe you could try it out, just to see what I mean. Simply cover one of your eyes for 11 months and then open it up - you'll see.

Anyway, I'm thinking to myself that it's a wonderful world. But, if I'm talking to you and squinting, or if you think I'm winking at you, don't get any wrong ideas. It's going to take a little time to get this thing right. At least we're on the way.